Talented pupils from special needs school sell their home-made wares at Milton Keynes shopping centre

Enterprising pupils at a special school have turned into Christmas traders in a partnership with Midsummer Place shopping centre.

The youngsters from The Walnuts School have designed and made their own wooden plaques, inscribed with motivational, comical and inspirational phrases.

From today (Tuesday) they are selling the plaques, together with other hand-crafted Christmas girls, from a stand on the shopping centre mall.

The stand is situated between Waterstones and Michael Kors and prices of the products start from just £5.

The Walnuts School has a campus in Hazeley and one in Bletchley. It is for children and young people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or a Social Communication difficulty and it takes students from the age of four to 19.

Rebecca Brown, who is Careers and Transition Lead at the school, said: “Our young people have the fantastic opportunity to be part of our brand 'The Walnuts Enterprise’. The students are given the opportunity to enjoy a variety of roles including, planning, designing, production, sales assistant and accounting.”

She added: “It is vital that all young people are given a chance for their ability to be nurtured throughout their time in the programme. By nurturing the young people and allowing them to develop their entrepreneurial skills not only do the students develop and grow, but it also gives them vital employability skills for their future ahead.”

The scheme is part of the school’s sixth Form programme called ‘The Walnuts Enterprise’, and the partnership with Midsummer Place came to fruition through the Hatch initiative that invited small businesses to pitch for retail space in the centre.

Marketing manager at Midsummer Place, Kirsty McGiff, said: “We are so proud to work alongside The Walnuts School and help them showcase the skills developed in this programme. The products their young people are creating are of such a high standard and we feel they are perfect for our shoppers’ Christmas lists this year.”

The stand will be running across various days with the chance to extend into December. The current opening days are: 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 29th and 30th November.